Next Steps

The single greatest obstacle to world-class service in the Lake Shore Corridor is Amtrak's erratic schedule. Today, cities between Buffalo and Toledo only see service in the middle of the night. This scheduling prevents serious business travel and severely dampens ridership. In fact, Cleveland sees fewer riders than Williston, ND — a far smaller city with daytime service. Few people want to catch a train at 2:00 AM, and it is evident.

The shortcomings of today's Lake Shore Limited present an exciting opportunity. Adding three more daily round trips would give many cities daytime service for the first time in decades. With daylight service in Northern Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York, ridership would skyrocket overnight.

With the proper investments, there is a huge opportunity to improve connectivity in the vital Lakeshore Corridor.

The next step on this corridor is to fund upgrades that will allow for additional passenger trains and prepare for growing freight traffic. These improvements should also lead to faster and more reliable schedules.

Track and Signals: New passing sidings will need to be constructed, congestion points removed and signals enhanced.

Station Enhancements: New platforms serving all mainline tracks and passenger safety improvements will need to be installed.

High-Performance Trains: Modern trains that can operate faster on existing track while burning less fuel will need to be purchased.